Title: Interview with Richard Gilkey - #3

Original format: VHS

Item Id.: spl_ds_rgilkey_01_03

Description: This is part 3 of 3 of an interview with Richard Gilkey. This interview was conducted by Deloris Tarzan on June 14, 1986 at Gilkey’s La Conner home.

Richard Gilkey (1925-1997) was a painter and sculptor who was part of the Northwest School of Artists. Gilkey was born in Bellingham, Washington. His family moved to Seattle when he was 12 and he attended Ballard High School. During World War II, Gilkey served with the Marine Corps and was discharged because of injuries in August 1944. Following the war, he began to develop an interest in artwork and was particularly inspired by the work of fellow Pacific Northwest artists Mark Tobey and Guy Anderson. His work was featured in the 1948 Northwest Annual Exhibition and in 1958 Gilkey was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, allowing him to travel through Europe and further develop his skills. In 1975, he purchased a Skagit Valley home and developed an art studio where his work was increasingly inspired by the surrounding environment. His painting came to a sudden halt when he was in a car accident in 1984, which left him unable to paint for three years due to crushed vertebrae. He slowly made his way back into the art world and was awarded the Washington State Governor’s Art Award in 1990. The same year he was awarded the grand prize in the Osaka Trienniele 1990 exhibit. Notice of the award came on the same day that a Skagit River levee broke and flooded his home and studio. Following a severe lung cancer diagnosis in 1997, Gilkey drove from Seattle to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with his revolver and committed suicide near Togwatee Pass. Gilkey’s works have been featured internationally and included in collections of institutions such as the Seattle Art Museum.

In the first and second parts of the interview Gilkey discusses his life and creative process along with several pieces of his work. The audio for these portions of the interview include a loud buzzing sound. The third part of the interview is unnarrated Skagit Valley scenery and buildings.

This interview is part of the Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection. Don Schmechel, who was a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board, began this project with Seattle Public Library in 1984, with the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) brought on board as a partner in early 1985. Schmechel himself worked to raise the funding for the project, and volunteered his time to manage the project, and to conduct interviews along with a crew of volunteers. Originally titled the Videotaping Historic Figures (VHF) Program, the project interviewed 91 people, with a portion of the interviews entering the collections of the Seattle Public Library and a portion of them going to MOHAI.The interviews conducted with these Seattle civic, business and cultural leaders in 1985 are valuable first-hand accounts that provide insight into developments taking place in the mid-twentieth century. 

Digitization of this videotape material has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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